National League Sunday: Boreham Wood Unbeaten, Southend Left Fuming

The weekend’s results

Gateshead–Tamworth was postponed before kick-off. Barrow–Forest Green Rovers was abandoned after 14 minutes with Barrow leading 1–0; that unfinished score is not a result and does not count in the table.

Boreham Wood make it 12 wins from 14

It is getting harder to find anything that slows Boreham Wood down. AFC Fylde arrived at Meadow Park in the play-off places and left beaten 4–0, with three goals arriving before half-time.

Zak Brunt opened the scoring in the 31st minute and even had time to miss a penalty before Tylor Golden headed in the second. Jay Bird added a third just before the break and Brunt struck again nine minutes after the restart. A missed spot-kick barely registered in the end.

Luke Garrard’s side have taken 38 points from 14 matches, winning 12 and drawing two. They have scored 38 goals, conceded 13 and built a goal difference of plus 25. There is a long way to go, but nobody can dismiss that start as a lucky fortnight.

Harrogate hit Sutton with three goals in five minutes

Harrogate Town stayed seven points behind the leaders by beating Sutton United 3–1. Bailey Hobson, Josh Hmami and George Thomson scored in the 30th, 32nd and 35th minutes. Three goals in five minutes is enough to turn a tricky afternoon into a game that is almost beyond reach.

Thomson had only just come on for the injured Will McGowan. He set up Hobson’s opener and then scored the third himself. Ben Brookes pulled one back for Sutton in the second half, but Harrogate had done the damage. That is five successive league wins for a side now on 31 points, three ahead of Southend.

Southend twice lead Halifax — and still cannot win

There are draws you accept and move on from. Then there are those that follow you home. Southend United 2–2 FC Halifax Town is firmly in the second category for me.

Promise Omochere put The Shrimpers ahead with a 22nd-minute penalty, only for Amari Morgan-Smith to level ten minutes later after Conor Carty’s initial effort was saved. With six minutes of normal time left, we thought we had rescued the afternoon. Omochere forced the issue again and the ball ended up in the net off Halifax defender Mackenzie Maltby. Roots Hall had the lead back.

Then came the moment that will dominate the conversations. Ben Goodliffe was waiting to come on, Southend were temporarily a man short and Tayt Trusty equalised in the 90th minute. The explanation given around the substitution — that the process had taken too long — deserves careful examination. I am not going to declare a law broken without seeing exactly what the officials instructed, but I certainly want a clearer account of why Goodliffe was not allowed on before play resumed.

The anger spilled over after the final whistle, with Kieron Dyer and goalkeeping coach Anssi Jaakkola reported to have been shown red cards. Nobody should pretend that is a routine way for a football match to finish. Equally, Halifax deserve credit for fighting back twice; Trusty still had to take his chance.

An attendance of 8,044 watched Southend collect a point that felt like two dropped. We stay third on 28 points, but Boreham Wood are ten ahead and the sides immediately behind us have closed in. There will be more to say about the officiating in the match report. For now, the table does not care how angry we are.

Worthing and Altrincham turn up the pressure

Worthing come from behind at Kidderminster

Tuesday’s trip to Worthing has acquired a little extra edge. The Rebels climbed into fourth with a 2–1 win at Kidderminster Harriers, coming from a goal down after Ben Crompton had struck for the hosts before half-time.

Razzaq Coleman De-Graft equalised in the 58th minute. Ten minutes later, Dominic Johnson-Fisher raced down the right and picked out Cory Adjetey-Brew, who finished the winning move. Worthing goalkeeper Taylor Seymour also made important saves to keep the comeback intact.

Worthing have now won three successive league matches and sit on 27 points, just one behind The Shrimpers. Anyone thinking the trip to Sussex will be a gentle way to forget Halifax might want to think again.

Altrincham spoil Yeovil’s home afternoon

Yeovil had scored six in each of their previous two league games, but Altrincham refused to play the part of another victim at Huish Park. Johl Powell put the hosts in front after 14 minutes, before Charlie Kirk equalised in the 69th and substitute Kristian Dennis completed the comeback late on.

Yeovil’s Ben Radcliffe was dismissed in stoppage time after bringing down Lucas Weaver. Altrincham’s 2–1 win moves them level with Worthing on 27 points, with the Rebels ahead on goal difference. Yeovil slip to sixth on 25. The gap between third and fifth is now only one point.

Blair hat-trick wins a six-goal contest at Eastleigh

Eastleigh and Boston United produced the afternoon’s highest-scoring completed game, with the Spitfires winning 4–2. Aaron Blair was the difference, although he and his team had to work rather harder than that final margin suggests.

Blair put Eastleigh ahead twice in the first half. Lenell John-Lewis answered the first with a penalty and Jake Rooney levelled the second with a fine strike, sending the teams in at 2–2. Dion Rankine restored Eastleigh’s advantage with a superb volley on the hour and Blair completed his hat-trick in added time as Boston pushed for another equaliser.

Boston have now lost again after that late Southend defeat and remain 21st with 12 points. Eastleigh climb to 15th on 18, a reminder of how quickly one win can change the middle of the National League.

Woking almost throw away a three-goal lead

Woking looked to have put Scunthorpe United away when Aiden O’Brien scored twice, either side of John Marquis’s penalty. At 3–0 up after 54 minutes, it should have been a comfortable journey home.

Instead, Rico Browne was sent off five minutes later. James Norwood pulled a goal back for Scunthorpe in the 63rd minute, Luke Brennan made it 3–2 in the 84th, and suddenly Woking were hanging on with ten men. They held out for an important away win.

The 3–2 defeat leaves Scunthorpe 22nd on ten points from 13 games. Woking rise to 13th, on 18. When you have had a season like Scunthorpe’s so far, even a strong late rally that ends in defeat is not much consolation.

Ten-man Hartlepool find a way back

Hartlepool’s 2–1 home win over Hornchurch might be the result that deserves a second look. Angelo Balanta gave the visitors the lead just after half-time and Pools then lost Neo Eccleston to a second yellow card in the 68th minute. A goal down and a man down is normally when an afternoon starts slipping away.

Hartlepool responded almost immediately, with Will Harris involved in an equaliser from Nathan Sheron’s flick-on. Substitute Luke Charman then struck from the edge of the box in the 80th minute to turn the game on its head. The home side held on for a second successive league victory.

That lifts Pools to 19th on 15 points. After the six-match losing run that preceded their win at Forest Green, two victories on the bounce will feel enormous. There is still work to do, but they have given themselves breathing space.

Wealdstone respond at Aldershot

Wealdstone, thrashed 6–0 by Yeovil in their previous league game, showed that one dreadful afternoon does not have to become a habit. Olufela Olomola headed in from a Jack Wells-Morrison corner just after half-time at Aldershot, and the Stones defended their 1–0 lead.

It was a badly needed response for Gary Waddock’s side, who move to 18th on 15 points. Aldershot remain 14th on 18.

Carlisle turn it around as Solihull’s troubles grow

Solihull Moors had a lead to protect after Ben Wodskou’s first-half stoppage-time strike against Carlisle United. But Morgan Feeney equalised in the 69th minute and David Ajiboye completed the comeback eight minutes later. Carlisle left with a 2–1 victory.

The Cumbrians move up to 11th on 20 points. Solihull have just seven points from 14 games and have conceded 37 league goals. Only Gateshead sit below them, and there is already a five-point gap to Boston in 21st.

Storm Boelo wins two arguments with the fixture list

Friday evening’s Gateshead–Tamworth fixture was postponed after heavy rain left the pitch at Gateshead International Stadium unplayable. Saturday brought even more frustration at Barrow, where Forest Green Rovers made the long journey only for the match to last 14 minutes.

Isaac Marriott scored for Barrow within seconds of kick-off, but the Holker Street surface was waterlogged. A back-pass became stuck in standing water, creating a bizarre chance for Forest Green, and the referee abandoned the game. The 1–0 score at that point does not stand as a completed result.

I have sympathy for supporters on both sides, particularly those who travelled from Gloucestershire. Once a ball will not roll properly, there is no sensible football to be played. The question is whether Saturday’s kick-off should have been allowed in the first place. Barrow remain ninth with 21 points from 13 completed fixtures; Forest Green have played only 12.

How the top seven stand